Today we’d like to introduce you to Sejal Patel.
Sejal, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I didn’t grow up around boats, but my name (Sejal – like sage and angel, minus the n) means pure water, so ending up as a yacht charter broker feels a little poetic.
I didn’t know the first thing about yachting until a friend who was sailing around the world invited me aboard. I knew people did that; I never thought I’d know one of them, let alone get to experience part of a circumnavigation! One invitation turned into several: I joined him and his brother on the water in California, Tonga, and St. Lucia. I got scuba certified in Tonga, and I’ve chased the water every chance I get since (I’m a PADI rescue diver and have been certified for over 15 years!)
Those trips rewired how I travel. My world view was already shaped by my ties to Canada, India, and the US and by trips to more than 60 countries, but life on a boat clicked in a way nothing else had. The view changes every day; your people (and your room, so no more packing and unpacking between cities) stay the same. You wake up in a new anchorage, swim before breakfast, sail somewhere new by lunch, and spend the whole day with the people you came with instead of the logistics of coordinating Ubers and dinner reservations that keep you from the fun!
I like to say I’m obsessed with people, processes, and places, and yacht chartering is where all three meet. I’ve spent more than a decade as a flight attendant, I lead group trips for Nomadness Travel Tribe, and I’ve worked 15+ years in HR at big tech companies and startups. That combination helps me problem solve in creative ways while keeping my cool in even the most stressful and unexpected moments, and often with a smile or a laugh. When I learned that a charter broker’s whole job is matching people with the right boat, destination, and crew, it felt like every piece of my background had been pointing there.
So I became a yacht charter broker with CKIM Group and started Your Charter Friend, here in Austin: I like to think of myself as the friend in the yachting world you wish you had, who is patient, trust-worthy, knowledgeable and here to guide you through the process.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not even close, and I’d be suspicious of anyone in their first couple of years who says otherwise. I believe things work out, and the twists are part of it, but smooth? No.
The learning curve was steep. Yacht chartering has its own language, its own math, and its own etiquette, and a lot of it lives in people’s heads instead of on a page. I came in new to yachting but not new to travel or people, so I know exactly what it feels like to discover yacht charters, get overwhelmed by the options, and wish someone would answer your “dumb questions” without making you feel like you should know. We’ve all been new and I am continually learning something new. I’m happy to say “I don’t know,” because I’m curious by nature and very good at finding out and explaining it in plain English.
I also had a near miss I still think about: I was close to locking in a boat before confirming the one thing my client had told me was non-negotiable. Even detail-obsessed people miss things when there are this many moving parts, but the detail and process oriented parts of me (shoutout to being a Virgo) means I caught it, and now I start every charter doubling down on understanding the vision for the trip, the non-negotiables, and the details a group doesn’t care about, before I fall in love with a boat on anyone’s behalf.
The biggest challenge is perception. Most people assume yacht vacations are for a select few, and the industry has mostly marketed itself to people who grew up around boats and the ultra-wealthy. A lot of us never saw ourselves in that picture, so we never thought to ask. Building a client base outside that circle means a lot of explaining, a lot of demystifying, and earning trust from people who assumed this wasn’t for them. I was one of those people, so I get it.
Charters also run all year and don’t care what day it is. On any given day I’m building a proposal, checking in on a charter that’s underway, or walking the docks at a boat show so I’ve been on the boats I recommend. I joke that I work every day, but I also have fun every day, so it evens out. It’s not your typical 9-5, so that takes some adjusting to but the end result is worth it.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Through Your Charter Friend, I help people plan and book crewed yacht charters: catamarans, sailboats, and motor yachts around the world. I focus primarily on the Caribbean (especially the US and British Virgin Islands), the Bahamas, Greece, Croatia, France, and Italy. I’m a broker under CKIM Group, a renowned yacht charter brokerage with more than 25 years in the industry.
On a crewed yacht charter, the boat comes with at least a captain and a chef (bigger yachts have bigger crews) who handle everything, so your group can focus on the good part: each other. I can help with bareboat charters (where you have your own captain or captain-only charters) as well as day charters, but those aren’t my specialty and I have trusted partners who are better suited to support you.
The biggest myth I’m here to bust is that a yacht vacation is out of reach. It isn’t for a backpacker budget but it can be a lot more reasonable than you think. If you’re a penny pincher, this won’t be for you – but if you’re looking for the most bang for your buck and a unique, personalized, luxury trip that you’ll remember for a lifetime, I do think this is the best type of trip to go on. There are stunning boats at the top end, and I love those, and there are also plenty of yacht charters that compete with a week at a nice resort, a no-holds-barred Disney trip, or any other big family or group vacation. I also think a crewed yacht charter would be an incredible way to celebrate a milestone birthday, selling a business or retirement, a team offsite or even a sales incentive trip! The difference is what you get: a week of real time with your people, a different island or bay every day, and a crew taking care of you.
If you’ve watched Below Deck, you already have a picture of what a yacht vacation looks like. The show is dramatized (it’s TV, after all), but a Below Deck experience minus the drama may be closer than you think, and I can get you there.
What sets me apart is my background and who I’m building this for. I work with travelers the yacht charter industry has overlooked: groups of friends, couples celebrating a milestone, companies planning an offsite or team celebration, and families planning the big trip they’ll talk about for years. Whether you’re picturing a family catamaran charter in the BVI, a friends’ trip sailing the Greek islands, or a team week on a motor yacht in Croatia, a lot of these trips are within reach once the cost is split across a group.
I also don’t gatekeep information (except my client’s identity – your privacy is paramount). If you want to know how yacht charter pricing works, what’s included, what to tip the crew, or what questions to ask any charter broker (including me), I’ll tell you. Working with a broker costs you nothing extra. Like a travel agent, I represent you, and my commission is paid by the boat owner for the boat you book.
What I’m most proud of is the feedback after a trip. Clients tell me the water was beautiful and the scenery was incredible, but that’s rarely the highlight. The highlight is the time with their family. They disconnected, they were taken care of, and they got to put all their attention on the people they came with. That’s the whole point, and hearing it never gets old.
The best first step is a conversation. Tell me who’s coming, your vision for the trip, and your best and worst travel experiences, and I’ll tell you what’s possible. You can find me at yourcharterfriend.com or @yourcharterfriend on Instagram.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Best: Austin is growing fast and there’s always something new happening, but it still feels familiar. It’s a relationship city. It’s normal to walk into an event and see two people you know who also know each other, or to be the one who introduces them and gets a front-row seat to the start of something great. And for a landlocked city, Austin has a big lake and boat culture. Lake days (day charters) aren’t my professional specialty, but personally I’m a huge fan of being able to get out on Lake Austin or Lake Travis to get out on the water.
Least: Austin’s airport is easy to get through, but the routes to the big yacht charter destinations (the Caribbean, Greece, Croatia) aren’t the easiest. I’m hopeful the airport expansion fixes that, because I want to get to the boat as fast as humanly possible.
Pricing:
- Working with a yacht charter broker costs clients nothing extra. Like a real estate or travel agent, the broker’s commission comes out of the charter fee/is paid by the boat owner.
- Crewed yacht charters in the Caribbean and Bahamas are typically all-inclusive: accommodations, meals on board, a standard bar, fuel, water toys, and moorings are part of the charter fee. In Europe (Greece, Croatia, France, Italy), the weekly rate may be lower, with a separate provisioning allowance called APA, usually a percentage of the weekly rate, that covers food, drinks, and fuel based on what your group actually uses. VAT varies by country.
- Crew gratuity is customary on top of the charter fee and varies from 10-20% depending on what part of the world you charter in and is always at the guest’s discretion.
- Many charters are competitive with a week at Disney or a big group vacation, especially when the cost is split across a group.
- Real example: a group of four spent a week on a crewed yacht charter in Croatia for about $20,000, including two meals a day, drinks, water activities, fuel, and gratuity. That’s about $5,000 per person, and the boat could have taken six, which would have brought it to about $3,300 per person.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.yourcharterfriend.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourcharterfriend
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smileysejalee/
- Other: https://www.ckimgroup.com/
